Emma O'Brien cautiously pushed a pine tree branch away from her head, letting it flop back into place behind her. She continued her hunt carefully. As her bare feet softly tread on the warm soil, the young girl again heard the sound that had peaked her curiosity in the first place.  A strange sound, like mewing of a kitten but different. There was a familiar scream to it, but she couldn't place where she'd heard it before.
    She noticed a swarm of flies hovering over something behind a large bush. The sound seemed to be coming from that direction, so she walked to the other side of the bush. As she did so, the sound ceased. A dead cougar, its tawny side slashed open obviously by the sharp claws of a grizzly bear, was sprawled on the ground. The cougar had the grizzly's signature silver-tipped brown hairs in it teeth, a sign that it hadn't gone down without a fight. Emma looked around, her eyes now greenish-gray with sadness. She spotted a small quivering creature, hidden in the brush a few feet away from the dead cougar. Pulling away some of the plant growth, she saw the reason for the animal's fight to the death. A young cougar cub sat crying, covered with dirt and twigs. It looked to be about two months old, only a little bigger than a house cat.
    Oh, the poor thing, Emma mused to herself as she tenderly brushed the dirt off the shaking cub. No wonder it's skeered to death. It had to sit here an' watch its own mother get killed. The young cougar allowed Emma to pick all the twigs out of its thick, spotted fur. It didn't show any signs of being afraid of her. Emma cocked her head to one side. "Wonder why yer not skeered of me, though?" she asked aloud. She pondered for a moment. "Maybe you've never seen a human so you don't know to be skeered."
    A crashing sound came from the underbrush behind her. The cub shrank in fear from the sound, cowering in the dirt. The crashing grew louder and Emma heard small trees snapping. She turned and pressed her back into the bush behind her as far she could. A dark shape was running--or rather, shuffling toward the small clearing. The ten-year-old gasped as she realized what it was.
    The shape, a full grown male grizzly so common in the mountains of the Dakota Territory, rose on its hind feet and roared. It stood nearly eight feet tall, and was obviously badly wounded from the cougar's razor-like teeth and claws. Emma knew that a wounded bear would do anything if provoked. Every muscle in her body tensed as the bear dropped heavily to all fours and began sniffing around the dead cougar, not ten feet away from Emma. If I jus' stay perfectly still, maybe he won't notice me an' will go away. The baby cougar obviously had other ideas.  Just as the bear was about to turn away, the cub let out a blood-curdling cry that startled both the bear and Emma, who jumped in fright.
    The bear swung its huge head toward Emma and growled. It seemed the bear's sight was impaired, for it waved its head back and forth, trying to figure out the direction of the sound. It lowered its head and started sniffing the ground, lumbering towards Emma. Her heart raced as the bear's hot breath fell on her bare feet. Suddenly the grizzly again rose up on its hind feet and roared fiercely. It raised its paw to strike her when a shot rang through the still mountain air. Two more followed, and the grizzly's eyes glazed over. With a loud thud and a cloud of dust, it fell to the ground beside Emma.
    As the dust settled, she saw her eighteen-year-old cousin, Eric McLain, lower his rifle. He lifted an eyebrow at her as he asked, "You ever gonna learn how to stay out of trouble?"

(Check out the rest of Chapter One by purchasing your very own autographed copy of "Absaroka: Land of Shining Mountains.")

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